After starting 5-19 with a run differential of minus 102, Ohio is looking for positives wherever it can find them.
One thing coach Rob Smith took away from a sweep at the hands of Central Michigan two weekends ago was that he had finally found his weekend rotation.
“I do believe we have three starting pitchers that can give us a chance,” Smith said. “That’s encouraging that we’re seeing that.”
Just as Smith said, the young starting pitching staff has been solid this season, compiling a staff ERA of 3.98 among freshmen Jake Roehn and Jake Rudnicki and sophomore Connor Sitz.
The Bobcat who heads that rotation is Roehn, a right hander whose performance has been one of the few bright spots for Ohio this season.
Roehn has excelled as the Bobcats’ ace, averaging 1.3 walks and hits per innings pitched, 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a .234 batting average against.
Roehn, a Sandwich, Ill. native, played a significant role in snapping Ohio’s nine-game losing streak last Friday with a 5-3 victory against Western Michigan. He tossed eight innings while allowing no earned runs, four hits, three walks and striking out four batters on 122 pitches.
"After 100-some pitches, your arm is always going to be tired,” Roehn said. “But you just go out there, do what you can do, make them put the ball in play, let the defense work behind you and come out with the W.”
Perhaps the most impressive part of Roehn’s performance was what happened when he fell into trouble and the defense didn’t necessarily work behind him.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman shortstop Tyler Finkler made three critical errors that allowed the Broncos to score three unearned runs despite Roehn allowing just two hits and no walks.
Instead of crumpling under the pressure of having a shaky defense behind him, Roehn allowed just four baserunners in his final four innings of work.
“I give a lot of credit to Jake. He hung in there,” Smith said. “We’ve seen so many times this year where an inning like that would define the game. You know, it would be the three or four runs there and then another three or four runs after that.”
It’s a trait that the young ace has displayed throughout the season, bucking the trend of what generally happens with Ohio’s younger pitchers.
“We’ve seen some of our other newer or younger pitchers, if it’s not a good day for them or they don’t feel right, things haven’t gotten out of hand for them,” Smith said. “(Roehn)’s done a good job of keeping the game in check even when he’s not at his best.”
Ohio’s defense has been anything but clean this season, committing 40 errors that have allowed 39 unearned runs across home plate.
Roehn has given up eight unearned runs due to some of the defensive struggles but maintains a good deal of confidence in his defense.
“I have all the faith in the world in these guys,” Roehn said. “We trust each other. Trusting each other is huge in this game because you can’t do it all yourself. So you’ve got to trust each other and they’ll make plays.”
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